Touhou: Subarashi Shin Sekai Chapter 5: Book of Ancient Truth...in a book renter shop.
A young boy, 7 years of age, with blond hair and purple eyes, was wandering around a park somewhere in the large city of Mikage-Cho. Due to staying home most of the time to do chores, and barely having time to play outside, the boy had no friends, and was even often being looked at as if he was a weird one, due to his quiet nature. As such, during the days where he could actually get out of his house, he really had nothing else to do than just wander around the city, which he had memorized despite his young age, thanks to the aforementioned wanderings.
Right now, he chose to walk around a place familiar to him; a park where he would rest out during his wanderings and walks. It was pretty isolated and had little to no people using it at all, due to the rusty nature of the playground, with so much uncut grass all around. However, there was one spot which appeared to have not rust at all, and is always at its best condition; the pair of swings at the center of the said park. When he feels tired, the boy would just head for the one of the swings and just sit there, all alone, enjoying the silence of the place. In time, the boy had called the isolated park his "secret base".
However, today, something unexpected happened for the boy. This time, there was a person sitting at one of the swings. The said person is a girl, around the same age as the golden haired boy. The girl has slightly long brown hair, and has a pair of brown eyes behind a pair of round glasses. Tears are streaming from the brown haired girl's eyes, and she would sob at every few seconds, having a failed attempt to stop herself from crying.
Normally, the boy would just leave, seeing that someone is occupying his secret base today. However, after hiding behind some bushes for about ten minutes, and there isn't anyone else arriving, the boy concluded that the crying girl at the swings didn't have friends…just like him. At that moment, an idea popped up in the boy's head, which in turn, required him to approach the girl…
Walking forward, the boy now finds himself in front of the crying girl, who didn't seem to notice him as she kept crying. Taking a deep breath, the golden haired boy asks…
"Hey, are you hurt anywhere?"
The voice of the golden haired boy snaps the brown haired girl from her crying, and caused her to look up at the one who just asked her the question…
"Hey, Ryuuji-san! Rise and shine!" A familiar voice shakes off Ryuuji off his dream, causing him to open his eyes and put on a sitting position on the futon he slept on, and finds Reimu standing in front of him, carrying a rolled up piece of paper and having a big smile on her face.
"…Didn't think you'd be the morning person type, Reimu-san. You must really love mornings…" With a sarcastic voice and a half-glare as he spoke, Ryuuji got up, and stretched while Reimu simply cleared her throat, before speaking again.
"Well, I love mornings! Most of the time, anyway. But today…" With the giddiness of a child getting a next generation console, Reimu raises the folded paper she holds high upwards, and starts declaring aloud, "…I getting my official slave-I mean, helping hand today! So why can't I be freaking happy when I could finally divide my jobs?"
"You just said slave, didn't you?!" Ryuuji retorted, only to be ignored as Reimu smugly turned her back and started to leave the room, skipping happily all the way.
"Now, now, you better move it or we'll miss the odd jobs at the village today! And no job means no food, okay~?" Reimu says with a devilish grin on her face, before finally leaving Ryuuji's room and closing his door. Meanwhile, Ryuuji, with a rather despairing look on his face, face palms and mutters to himself…
"Hey, get back here! Slavery is human rights abuse! It's illegal!" Ryuuji retorted once again, only to receive no reply from the shrine maiden. Sighing, Ryuuji goes to properly rearrange his futon for future use, before going on with his morning routine…
"…Looks like I'm in for one helluva day…Let's hope I live through this." Ryuuji mutters to himself, apparently feeling the impending sense of doom that awaits him beyond the door of his room…
After having helped in making breakfast, and eating it, Ryuuji now sits on the other end of the table of the living, with Reimu witting at the opposite one, with a smile on her face and an unrolled paper placed by her hands on the table.
"Alright, so, written in this paper is a list of possible jobs that you can take on in the village. Apparently, there both short odd jobs, and long term jobs listed here. I'd recommend taking the former, though, since you're just staying here for a month anyway." Reimu explains, with Ryuuji listening intently. Earlier, Ryuuji asked why he needed to take a job, only for Reimu to reply rather bluntly that Ryuuji will need to pay rent in a weekly style basis, and he'll need money to do so.
"I see. I've been on a few part-time jobs myself, so I think I can take on the odd-jobs one." Ryuuji replied, earning him an earnest nod of approval from Reimu, who was relieved to hear that. Without wasting time, Reimu chucks the paper at Ryuuji, and then stands up, and goes out to the Hakurei shrine's entrance.
"Well then, go choose a job! And when you do, I'll be the one to fly you to the village, alright? I'll be doing some cleaning out here, so call out when you've decided, Ryuuji-san." Reimu states, before closing the door of the living room. Meanwhile, Ryuuji, hearing Reimu's words, quickly reads through the list of jobs in the paper that Reimu passed him earlier…
"Hmm…Assistant for a Book Renter Shop for two weeks…The weekly pay is decent, and the work lasts for 5 and a half days a week..." Ryuuji muttered as he pondered over the one job that had taken his interest. Out of the other jobs, the assistant book-keeper retains the decent payment, even though setting up books again and again can get repetitive. However in Ryuuji's eyes, this is a lot better than the listed youkai hunting, celestial care-taking, mansion toilet cleaning, and matchmaking jobs.
Having no choice, Ryuuji rolls the paper neatly, and decides to take up the assistant librarian job at the human village's library. Opening the door of the living room, Ryuuji calls out to Reimu, who is sweeping the leaves in front of the shrine…
"Ah, Reimu-san! I've chosen a job!"
Ryuuji's words caused Reimu's attention to switch quickly, with her fabulously throwing the broom she held to the trees nearby, and it even landed and stood upright as it landed, much to Ryuuji's bewilderment.
With the same cheerful face she had since morning, Reimu approaches Ryuuji, and asks, "Alright, that good! So, are you ready?"
Ryuuji nods as an answer.
"Well then, give me your hand. Any of them will do." Reimu instructs, prompting Ryuuji to obey and reach out his right hand, which Reimu grabs tightly with both of her own hands.
"Okay, hold on tight 'cause we're gonna be flying all the way, alright?" Reimu says in a clear, stern voice, knowing that the outsider is still not really used to flying. In a few seconds, Reimu suddenly takes up to the air, with Ryuuji in tow. However, much to her surprise, the outsider did not emit any of the usual screams or freak-outs he had last time, and is instead looking happy as he viewed the beautiful sight below, seemingly having forgotten the fact that he is just clinging to someone who flies in mid-air.
Some people sure get used to some things quickly, Reimu thought.
A few minutes later…
Landing safely near the front gates of the Human Village, Reimu and Ryuuji started to walk, wanting to inform the gate guards of their presence before entering. However, as soon as they approached the gates, a loud commotion can be heard from behind it, as if something big was happening inside. The gate guards, seeing Reimu, quickly waved at her and called out.
"Ah, it's the Hakurei Miko. You're just in time! Please, go inside, quickly." One of the guards hurriedly states, opening the gates along with another guard. Without hesitation, Reimu quickly goes in, followed by Ryuuji, who has a feeling that something terrible might have occurred, having seen the tense, sweaty look from the village guards.
As soon as they stepped inside, they found the people gathered around something, most of them having a mournful look. Sounds of cries and sobbing can be heard as well. Without wasting time, Reimu rushes in, grabs a nearby female bystander, and asks, "What happened here?"
"Ah, Hakurei Miko! It's...it's Mitsuno-kun! He…" A look of fear and sorrow encompassed as the young woman tried to keep speaking, "…He got murdered!"
"What? Inside this village?!" Reimu asks with surprise, with the young woman nodding as an answer. From what Reimu knew, everyone in the villge knew each other, and if one murders another, they would quickly get caught. And besides, most of the people of the village are quite close, so the chances of killing each other are very low, even if they got into a fight. The fact that it still happened really surprised Reimu. The very fact that a human being would really murder another one of his own kind…
"Ryuuji-san, head for a tea house or something. I'll fetch you later for your job." Reimu instructs seriously, her sight never leaving the group of people gathered around what she presumed to be the victim's corpse.
"Okay. Got it, Reimu-san." Ryuuji replies, causing Reimu to turn her back to him and head for the group of gathered people, to ask more questions about the murder. Meanwhile, as per Reimu's instructions, Ryuuji looks for a place to stand by onto till Reimu fetches him later and take him to his employer, which Reimu told him earlier was someone she knew.
"…Looks like even a village like this isn't safe from harmful intentions, huh?" Ryuuji muttered onto himself as he searched for a tea house. It seems that, in whatever dimension, humanity really doesn't change. They're really just as selfish and uncaring of lives that are not their own, Ryuuji thought…
A few moments later…
After finding a suitable, calm looking tea house, Ryuuji goes in, planning to spend time by thinking back on his situation, especially on the one month disappearance record that he is about to receive in the outside world. Taking a seat and ordering a cup of tea from the waitress, Ryuuji sighed, not knowing what to say to Reika when he gets back, especially since he holds the position of vice president at their school, and is Reika's most trusted comrade out of everyone else in that place…
"She seriously won't believe if I told her that I was in a magical land full of youkai and lived in the same roof with a shrine maiden that looks exactly like her for one month now, won't she?"
As he waited, Ryuuji looked around the shop, having nothing better to do, and is still quite unnerved of thinking about the possibilities of what might be the consequences of his disappearance in the outside world. From the look of things, his future just got struck in the nuts with a steel baseball bat. Five times, at that.
However, before he could drown deeper in despair, something caught his eye. Thanks to the lack of people inside, it was easy to for his sight to catch a certain person sitting at about three tables away from him.
It was a mature looking woman, in both looks and the aura around her. She has an ethereal looking pale skin, a pair of maroon eyes and a slightly long pink hair that's about to reach her shoulders. She wears a light blue and white kimono with dark blue trim and white designs; a blue mob cap on the front of which is a hitaikakushi with a red ghost insignia; and a veil of the same color of the kimono behind her head. She wears dark shoes with blue ribbons attached. A mountain of plates is on one side of her table, and on the other side is a single cup of tea, while in the middle is a late of dumplings that the pink haired woman is gently and gracefully devouring.
The first thing that resounded in Ryuuji's mind as he saw that sight was 'Where in heaven's name does she store all that?!'. Looking at how slender the pink haired lady was, Ryuuji was quite shocked by the fact that the said lady just ate an entire battalion's worth of sweets and stay on the same size. However, as much as he wants to know why, Ryuuji quickly averts his sight from the pink haired woman, remembering the little incident he had with the woman named Keine in the past few days. Apparently, it's common sense that staring at someone is rude. And Ryuuji is really wanting to have a long visual observation of the strange creature that's eating more than a hungry sailor.
However, before anymore dilemma could strike Ryuuji, the voice of the tea house' waitress shakes him out of his mental predicament, bringing him back to reality.
"Here's your dumplings and tea, mister! I hope you'll enjoy it!" The waitress cheerfully says with a smile, prompting Ryuuji to reply swiftly and clearly.
"I will. Thank you for the food." Ryuuji says with a grateful tone of voice. In turn, the waitress bows and leaves for the next customer on another table.
The sweet smell of food entered his nose, along with the soothing scent of tea. Ryuuji lets out a small sigh of relaxation before finally digging in to the food he just ordered. However, as he proceeded, he suddenly felt something staring at him, making him feel like all the hair on the back of his neck were being brushed by a cold stream of air. Looking up, he finds…
…the pink haired woman staring at him, eye to eye, with her face just about five inches away from Ryuuji's own.
"HOLY BALLS!" Ryuuji, by instinct and surprise, suddenly stands up and backs away, his face flustered at the pink haired woman's antics. The said woman giggled, in a similar way a grandmother would laugh at her grandson's idiocy.
"Ah, please forgive my rather rude entry, young man." The pink haired lady bows respectfully as Ryuuji calmed down from his earlier shock, "It's just that your face reminded me of someone I know very well, and I couldn't help but look closer. Once again, I apologize." The pink haired lady declares with grace, making Ryuuji recover his composure, suddenly getting the notion of wanting to be polite to the person in front of him.
"Uh-umm, it's alright! I really should just pay more attention to my surroundings and avoid getting surprised by every little thing, that's all!" Ryuuji replies, while trying to sound not like a bumbling idiot, albeit to no avail, as his voice still shook mildly as the words flew out of his mouth. Meanwhile, the pink haired lady simply let out another soft laugh while hiding her mouth with her opened fan.
"Oh my, aren't you quite a polite one? And speaking of that, please, allow me to introduce myself as compensation for what I did earlier…" Now having removed the fan as a cover, the pink haired lady introduced herself with the same graceful, mature manner she had since earlier, "My name is Saigyouji Yuyuko. Now, may I know yours, young man?"
"I'm…Ryuuji. Kuzunoha Ryuuji. Nice to meet you, Saigyouji-san." Ryuuji bows respectfully as he said that, still driven by the strange urge of being polite around Yuyuko. In turn, Yuyuko herself lets out a soft smile, and replies.
"Nice to meet you as well, Kuzunoha-kun. Now please, raise your head. We are supposed to relax in a tea house, after all~." Yuyuko says with a soft tone that befits her image.
"I…I guess you have a point there. So, uh, please take a seat." Ryuuji says in a nervous manner, although he himself doesn't understand why. Why is it that he shakes and feels a strong chill in his spine around Yuyuko? Why does he feel like a man walking through a pathway full of landmines while carrying a malfunctioning metal detector? Why…does he feel fear, of all things? Especially in the presence of an elegant lady like Yuyuko?
"Thank you, young man." Yuyuko obliges to the nervously done invitation, and takes a seat on the chairs that surround the same table as Ryuuji's, before placing the plate of dumplings and the cup of tea that she carried with her.
"So, Kuzunoha-kun, where do you live?" Yuyuko asks with a smile, before grabbing her cup of tea, and taking a soft sip from it. In turn, Ryuuji quickly answers clearly.
"I'm…from the outside world. I'm merely staying for a while till the next full moon and go home, you see…" Ryuuji replies, before taking a dumpling…and eats it. Meanwhile, Yuyuko also takes one of her own set of dumplings and eats, while giving a nod to Ryuuji, signifying that she knows what he meant, and that now is his turn to ask questions.
"Well, uh, Saigyouji-san, do you come here often?" Ryuuji asks, wanting to make the question's topic as normal as possible, and since asking a lady of her address feels rather too forward to him, Ryuuji decides to ask for her schedule instead.
"Well, I do once in a while. Or to be more clear, I would come to this village once in a month." Yuyuko declares clearly, before taking another sip of her tea. Ryuuji's eyebrow twitched as he heard Yuyuko's reply, before finally absorbing the information that Yuyuko just shared. She is not a resident of the village? Could it be there's another village besides the one he's staying?
"You mean, you stay in another village?" Ryuuji voices out his curiousity, only for Yuyuko to lightly shake her head.
"No, I do not. Well, you could say…that my home is a 'special' sort of place. A place you still might go to later in life, Kuzunoha-kun…" Yuyuko declares in an ominous manner. Ryuuji felt cold air run up his spine as he heard Yuyuko's words. It felt like those words somewhat struck truth, and yet, at the same time, it still managed to leave a stench of lies.
"Ah…I see." Ryuuji replies, followed by an almost silent, sheepish laugh.
"I don't know if I can't keep this up…" Ryuuji mentally panicked. For a reason he does not know, it suddenly became harder to think up of subjects to talk about, and as well as to think itself. No longer wanting to be in Yuyuko's presence, Ryuuji decides to cut off the conversation, while still trying to be polite as much as possible…
…And yet, even finding an excuse was so difficult. Even though he wanted to escape, a sense of dread still shakes him as he thought of how might Yuyuko react if he suddenly up and leaves, and that he's gonna lie to do so. It's as if, something bad will happen to him no matter what choice he will make. Only a miracle can save him now…
Meanwhile, Yuyuko simply made a small, mischievous smirk as she sees the panic in Ryuuji's eyes…
"Hey! So you were here. I didn't think you'd be into sweets, much less talk to some random stranger a few seconds later!" A familiar voice causes Ryuuji relief as he recognized it and turned his attention to the source of the voice, which was none other than Reimu.
"Ah, Reimu-san. I'm all ready to go!" Ryuuji excitedly stands, before leaving his payment on the table and runs towards the shrine maiden. Meanwhile, the latter could only raise an eyebrow as she recognized the person who shared the table with Ryuuji…
"Well, well, didn't take YOU for the sociable type, lady." Reimu states with an irritated tone, before suddenly pulling Ryuuji behind herself defensively. Meanwhile, Yuyuko on spreads open her fan, and covers her lips with it as she gave out a small giggle. A rather uncomfortable, and slightly intimidating atmosphere emanates from the pink-haired lady, causing Reimu to suddenly take out a few of the sealing paper charms she has prepared, and set them threateningly in front of her like a weapon.
"My, my, no need for the hostile greeting, shrine maiden. I was about to leave, myself." Yuyuko takes out a small, clinking bag of coin yen, and places it on the table where she ate with Ryuuji. After that, she calls out to the waitress, "Waitress! My payment's on the table, dear. Included in it is the young man with me on this table."
Ryuuji and Reimu's eyes widened, shocked at the pink haired lady's sudden generosity. Reimu, especially.
"I enjoyed that little chat…Kuzunoha-kun. I would like another chat like this next time. Ufufufu!" Yuyuko declared with a playful, carefree tone of voice, before turning her back and leaving the shop. However, before she could go any farther, Ryuuji gathered up his courage, and thought that, at the very least, he should show his gratitude for that little good deed.
"Thank you, Saigyouji-san!" Ryuuji called out, causing Yuyuko to turn her sight onto the outsider for a split moment, gave him a small smile, and went on her way. Reimu, for the meanwhile, had a rather puzzled look on her face, before looking at the departing Yuyuko, and back Ryuuji, and going back into being puzzled again. However, all the thinking quickly annoyed her, making her sigh and just be content that Ryuuji didn't end up having to be picked up at Hagyoukuro.
Without wasting time, Ryuuji picked his own set of money from the table he ate at, as the waitress already picked up the bag of coins Yuyuko left, which included Ryuuji's bill in it. Seeing that he's calmed down a little, Reimu decides to interrogate what happened during her absence, considering the person he just encountered.
"Say, Ryuuji-san, what happened between you and that woman? Did she invite you to die or something?" Reimu went straight to the point. Ryuuji, out of shock, was shaky as he gave his reply. Invite him to die? Why? Is that even possible?
"…She didn't say anything like that. She…just asked where I come from, and…" Ryuuji explains what occurred during the short, awkward conversation between him and Yuyuko. At the last part, where Ryuuji mentioned how Yuyuko said that her home is a place that he will arrive someday, Reimu simply gave another sigh, although it can't be described as to whether it was of relief, or of annoyance.
"…And that's that. Nothing else happened. No invitation to death or something. Who was she, anyway?" Ryuuji asks as soon as he finished relaying his little experience. However, as soon as the question flew off his mouth, Reimu simply ignored him, and said something else instead.
"Well, since you're still work ready, time to take you to your workplace!" Reimu declares, before grabbing one of Ryuuji's hands and dragging him to god knows where, despite the outsider's protest. Each time he would go back to asking who Yuyuko is, Reimu would just casually switch the subject to something else entirely, something that doesn't even make sense at times, Ryuuji noted.
After an entire 10 minute dragging around town, Ryuuji and Reimu are now standing in front of a large building, with the small, rectangular signboard written with the words 'Suzunaan Book Renter'. The musty smell of books is already invading Ryuuji's nose, even from the small opening of the shop's sliding door.
"Well, here we are! This is your work place from now on for one month. You ready?" Reimu asks her new helping hand, the outsider, with an energetic and eager tone. Not wanting to spoil the shrine maiden's mood, Ryuuji decided to give a positive answer.
"Yeah, I guess…" Ryuuji says in an slightly eager tone, as his mind was still a little preoccupied with what happened at the tea shop earlier, as well as Reimu's words about being invited to die by Yuyuko. Just…in how much danger was he when talking to Yuyuko? Just what could her possible invitation entail? These questions still pondered in Ryuuji's mind as he followed Reimu towards the entrance of Suzunaan Book Renter…
Entering the shop, Ryuuji's eyes were filled with a single pathway, aligned with rows and columns of books, both fictional ones that Ryuuji had seen lying around in his school library, as well as ones that he has never seen, namely the ones with the label named 'Magic'. The outsider couldn't help but wonder if these books are where those street magicians learn how to pulls out rabbits and birds from their hats and pants.
"Kuh…GAH!"
However, halfway into the pathway inside the bookstore, a loud, painful sound rang brutally inside Ryuuji's head. The sound itself was like the same sound that those gigantic bells make. It was a single, large, bellowing chime of a bell, and in Ryuuji's case, it was as if the said bell was rang right in front of him. The pain from the said noise is enough to send the outsider to his knees and clutch his head as the chimes continued…
"…Huh? Hey, what wrong?! Are you hurt somewhere or something?!" Reimu asks worriedly as she proceeds to kneel on one knee and check the outsider for any physical wounds. She didn 't find any after checking Ryuuji for a few minutes, who only kept clutching his head in pain.
"A…a bell!" The outsider says, barely managing to say anything out of the pain in his head. Reimu, not seeing any bells around, quickly grabs Ryuuji's face gently, before asking him.
"Bells? Where? I'm not seeing anything like that here!"
"Over…over there…I can hear a bell's chime…AGH!" Ryuuji pointed to the other end of the book rental's pathway, where another door is situated. Reimu, quickly guessing that something might be happening over there, quickly grabs Ryuuji by the arm…
"I know you still might be hurting and all, but, bear with me for now, okay? Let's hurry over the source of that sound you're hearing!" Reimu says as she gently but steadily drags Ryuuji towards the place where he calimed where he heard the chimes. As he and Reimu got nearer, the chimes in his head, got even louder, this time causing his to start groaning in pain even louder as Reimu dragged him onward…
"Ah…AAAGH! My head…It hurts!"
"I'm sorry. But as I said earlier, bear with me a little, okay? I'll make sure to obliterate the damn source of that noise you're hearing when I catch it red handed. I promise!" Reimu, in her own way, tries to assure the outsider who's in pain. Ryuuji started screaming as Reimu managed to drag him in front of the door, as the chimes are now making Ryuuji's head feel like it's about to explode…
Reimu, with a determined face, and the resolve to learn whatever is happening inside the book rental, kicks the sliding door open, sending it flying inside…
…What the shrine maiden saw inside made her jaw drop spectacularly…
"Holy crap, Kosuzu! What the hell did you open and read this time?!"
~Music Cue: "Boss Battle" from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne~
Inside the room were two people, one human, and one…non-human.
The human who got called as Kosuzu appears to be a young girl, around the same age as Ryuuji is. The said girl has red eyes, light red hair and twintails adorned with bells. She wears a checkered kimono and apron with Kosuzu and Suzunaan written on the front. An expression of fear and great regret is painted on the red-haired girl's face as she clutched a shining, white colored book with gold outlines. From what it looks like, Ryuuji deduced that the current predicament in the book renter shop just might be tied to the book that the girl called Kosuzu is holding tightly. However, before he could start deducing any further, the loud, painful bell chimes rings in his head once again, this time its source now clear to Ryuuji as his eyes reacted to the source of the sound by instinct…
Floating above Kosuzu is a non-human being covered in a black hooded cloak, with metallic golden wings attached behind it, and as well as having metallic silver hands sticking out from the sleeves of its black cloak. The powerful, painful bell chimes that rung in Ryuuji's head appears to come from the cloaked being, as the chimes intensify about as five times as painful when Ryuuji focused his sight on the cloaked being.
"You filthy mortal…How dare ye attempt to open the book of Ancient Truth?! Dost thy thirst for knowledge just as relentless as a man seeking oasis in the scorching deserts?!" The cloaked being spoke to Kosuzu in a loud, distorted voice, its tone giving a strong sense of intimidation upon the human occupants in the room. Even Reimu, who notices a familiar wave of energy erupting from the cloaked being before them. It was an energy she has always familiar with, and there was no mistake that she knows what this energy is…
…For what was exploding from the cloaked being was divine energy. Pure, untainted divine energy. Along with it is a strong wave of killing intent. It confused Reimu, as the latter energy would only taint the former one with malevolence, and weaken it by a great extent. But not with the cloaked creature before her, as the two opposing energies of divinity and hatred was mixing rather well, without one affecting the other.
"Wha-what?! I couldn't help it! And besides, this is a divine book, so there's nothing wrong with humans opening it, right?!" Kosuzu attempted to argue, still clutching the book with herself. And is not thinking of letting it go anytime soon. If it truly was a book of the divine, why would it be forbidden to humans? That thought stayed in Kosuzu's mind even as danger presented itself to her, in the form of the cloaked being before her.
"I have no need for excuses. Thou hast committed a grave sin, and punishment shall be given in kind!" The cloaked being roars, before summoning a large, golden spear with his right hand. Ryuuji and Koszuzu froze in fear at the sight of the weapon, whilst Reimu rushes forward, her gohei and sealing charms in both hands, before jumping into the air and throwing the sealing charms towards the cloaked being. The said charms quickly split into multiple yellow colored danmaku bullets, all of which appear to be inescapable, considering their pattern as they flew in the air.
However, instead of dodging, nor defending, the cloaked being simply turned towards the danmaku's direction, and readied his spear.
"I have no time and desire to play by your rules, pagan priestess! Begone!" The cloaked being roared as he swung his spear sideways, releasing a wave of golden light that clashed and erased the danmaku Reimu fired, much to the annoyance of the shrine maiden. The cloaked being charges towards Reimu, and swings his spear in a wide, horizontal arc, which Reimu dodges with an arcing jump over the cloaked being. The shrine maiden then follows up by pulling a spell card from one of her pockets. However, before she could even cast it, the cloaked being raises his right hand, and shouts…
"Chains of Heaven: Enkidu!"
Time itself seemingly slowed down, before multiple golden portals appeared around Reimu, where golden colored chains shot out at fast speed, as if not affected by the slowed time in the room. The chains quickly tie up Reimu, before proceeding to glow with a bright, golden light that brightened up the entire room. And then, time began to flow like normal…
"What…what in the world?!" Reimu complained as she couldn't break off the chains. Not wanting to stay put, Reimu then proceeds to use the divine power within her, and uses it to reinforce the strength of her body and break the chains. However…this only caused the said chains to glow even brighter, before tightening up even more and becoming thicker, up to the point where it is almost already crushing the shrine maiden…
"Gyaaaahhh!" Reimu screamed as she felt the pain from the tightening chains. The chains felt like they were burning to Reimu, with the level of heat similar to a freshly forged metal. The pain was enough to send Reimu near the point of unconsciousness.
"That chain binds those with high divinity levels more effectively, and will only become stronger if you attempt to break it using divine energy, priestess. To think that even these holy chains considered your tainted existence as a 'divine' presence…You pagans and your gods must truly be obliterated from this world! But first…" The cloaked being turns its attention back to Kosuzu, and heads towards her, its golden wings spreading wide in a menacing manner, "…I must first erase the one of the many roots of pagan faith! Like this young sinner!" The cloaked being declares, before laughing maniacally and floated in front of Kosuzu, and raised its spear. In turn, the red-haired girl's fear increased ten folds, even making unable to run for her life as she stared at the golden spear.
Meanwhile, as he watched, time slowed down for Ryuuji…
"That girl…that girl is going to die! Why…why is this happening?! She…doesn't deserve this!" Ryuuji felt his heart and soul sink, as many thoughts invaded his already jumbled mind. That Kosuzu girl…she probably has a family, friends, people she deems precious. And they'll lose her. If she dies, she'll lose everything. All the opportunities and happiness in life…she will lose them all, simply because of some book. To think that…someone will die in front of him again…Ryuuji couldn't even fathom the thought.
Even the outsider himself feared dying, but another thought still made him more scared than that…
…And it's the thought of leaving someone in front of him to die.
"Move…move…MOVE, DAMN IT!" Ryuuji says as he forced his body to move, as it was being paralyzed by his earlier fears. However, he did not give up, as his mind is now set on one thing…
Make sure that girl survives. Ryuuji repeated these words in his mind, as he is forcing his body to obey him, and make it before the blow is struck.
Meanwhile, tears had started falling down Kosuzu's cheeks as she stood paralyzed in fear, watching as the cloaked being pointed the tip of its spear towards her, and brings it down…
The sound of metal piercing flesh echoed throughout the room. It was audible enough that it snapped Reimu out of her pain and weakness, and in haste, caused her to quickly cast her sights on Kosuzu's location. What she saw surprised her quite greatly…
~Music Cue: "Opening Theme" from Devil Summoner – Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army~
The one pierced by the spear wasn't Kosuzu, as the red haired girl looked like she was pushed away into the nearby wall, still alive.
The one who was pierced was Ryuuji, as the spear's head is impaled on his lower abdominal area, and despite the probable pain, he still grips the spear tightly, not even thinking of letting go for a second. He seems strong enough to be able to keep the spear and the cloaked being holding the weapon from backing away. Moreover, as Reimu noticed, there was something different from Ryuuji. It was…
…His eyes. Instead of the purple color they have, they are now bright gold, and their pupils are no longer circle shaped, but instead a vertical, sharp ended slit, like a cat's. They give off a dark, ominous sensation, a similar feeling Reimu would feel when meeting some of the…nastier ranks of the youkaidom in Gensokyo.
"I'd advise letting go, fiend, lest you want to suffer through more pain!" The cloaked being warned against Ryuuji, who still gripped the spear tightly.
However, instead of obeying, the outsider only let out a small chuckle, before giving his answer, "In…that case…I…have an advice…for you too…you murderous…prick. GO. F*CK. YOURSELF!" With all his strength remaining, Ryuuji swings the spear to the right and then to the left with extreme strength, throwing off the cloaked being away from its weapon, and sending the said being slammed straight into a wall, right around near Reimu's location.
In a few moments, the chains binding the shrine maiden dissipated, causing her to fall unto the ground. However, having been used to these kinds of pain throughout her previous adventures and fights, it didn't take long for Reimu to fully regain consciousness and focus, and was able to stand on her feet in the spans of a few seconds.
Meanwhile, the cloaked being, emerges from the wall, before letting out a large laugh. Setting its sights on Ryuuji, it began to speak, "How intriguing…Tell me something, fiend…" The cloaked being then points one of its fingers towards the outsider, before continuing to speak, "For what reason is it that thou risked thy life for another? Especially for a stranger thou hast never met? A human stranger more so?"
Before answering, Ryuuji first pulled out the spear from his abdomen with great pain, before using said spear as a support on the ground. Clutching his bleeding stomach with his free hand, Ryuuji begins to speak between pained gasps, "I…just can't let…someone…die in front of…me now, can't I? And besides…is there even a…reason needed to…help people…? Especially…a fellow…human!" Even as blood started to drop from his mouth, Ryuuji struggled to speak and stand. However, despite his weak body, his will to keep standing and live stayed strong, as evidenced by the burning glare he is giving to the cloaked being.
"Hehehe…HAHAHAHA! How amusing! I am certainly entertained!" The cloaked being says with amusment in its voice, before giving a sigh to calm itself. After which, its entire body started glowing with golden, bright light, "Thou art really does not know thy nature? I can't believe such a being exists. A body of a fiend thou may have, and yet, thou possesses the heart of a mortal…Heh, a rare, pure comedy gold material, indeed. It is so funny, I have lost appetite for the execution of the sinners in this room. After all, killing the comedian won't bring much entertainment." The cloaked being says as he palmed his face whilst snickering to himself, as his entire body started to glow even brighter.
"I would have loved to stay and watch this hilarity, but, it seems that I'm being called above. I shall return for the Book of Ancient Truth for another time. Thou art does not know the way to open it, so leaving it for now wouldn't really matter." The cloaked being declares with a tone of mockery, before disappearing in a pillar of bright light, leaving a relieved Kosuzu, a tired Reimu, and a bleeding Ryuuji.
~Music fades~
"…Damn, I let my guard down one time, and this happens. Tch, I guess Kasen was right about the results of being cocky in a fight…Oh, crap!" Reimu says as she remembered her injured helping hand, who is now about to fall unto the ground, despite using the golden ornate spear for support. It seems that he has run out of strength, considering all the he just went through.
"Reimu! Your friend…we should bring him to Eientei, now!" Kosuzu says to the shrine maiden, who then quickly nods and heads to Ryuuji's location along with the red-headed girl.
"Ah…shit…At least he…didn't aim…for my…balls." Ryuuji declares with pain visible in his voice, before finally falling on his back onto the ground, with the golden spear falling down beside him. Kosuzu and Reimu rushed towards his direction, worry reasonably pasted all over their faces.
"Kosuzu, bring me something to stop the bleeding first! We could start moving him and take him to Eientei after that!" Reimu says aloud to her friend, who nods and rushes towards the back of the room, where a cabinet filled with medicines and first aid kit can be found. Meanwhile, in an effort to keep Ryuuji conscious, Reimu holds one of the outsiders hand tightly with both her own, before speaking in a worrying tone of voice, something that was rare for the rather snarky shrine maiden.
"Please…hold on. I'll get you to safety, okay? We'll have a lot to talk about after this, so don't go dying on me! I still have to send you home, remember? So please, hang on!"
Meanwhile, in the northern forests of Mikage-Cho, during the time where half the sun has just risen, Kuzunoha Genjou walks through the clearing of the forest, looking for a certain place. However, even after walking for hours on end since the day before, he had found nothing but more and more clearings and trees, one special on the large, ancient tree which Genjou had placed many knives on as a marker. Considering that there are now about 22 of them impaled on the said tree, it only meant one thing…
…That someone has placed a one way illusion on this forest, blinding only those who proceed forward, yet honestly showing the right way for those who head outward from the heart of the forest. Ther was no doubt about it. When Genjou fired an arrow of purifying flame to a nearby tree, a portal opened to where the arrow was headed, and as a result, the arrow was absorbed inside it. And unknown to Genjou, another portal opened just right behind his ass, and out came from the portal was the arrow he fired earlier…
…Needless to say, Genjou is not in the most pleasant of moods right now. Especially with an arrow up his behinds. An arrow that was on fire. Of purification. Last time Genjou remembered, he washed his behinds with an anti-bacterial soap and clean water. There was no need to set it in flames.
"Looks like the Gappin' bitch won't come out, eh? It seems that she already had fun with stickin' up that arrow up my arse. Damn old hag. I knew that settlin' in Mikage-Cho was a bad idea…" Genjou complained to himself. How could he had let his guard down? Not only does he have the Kuzunoha Onmyoujis after his life, he also lost his nephew to the very place he wanted Ryuuji to stay away from the most; the place called Gensokyo. After all, living in that place is a person that knows the "truth". A truth that Genjou always had wanted his nephew to stay away from. A horrible, unwanted truth. A truth that may change Ryuuji's life forever. And strip him of his normal, happy life.
"I just hope the 'switch' hasn't flipped yet. I sure f*ckin' hope not…That kid deserves a normal, humane way of life! Blood-ties doesn't matter here! I have to get him out as soon as possible!"
"I agree, Kuzunoha-san. In that case, why don't we help each other? I believe I found a way to get to where Ryuuji is, and I can achieve that with your help." The voice of a young girl reaches Genjou's ears, causing him to turn his attention to where the voice came from. What greeted his sight was a person he knew well. It was…a girl with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair tied in pigtails. On her head is a black hat with a white bow along with red framed glasses. She wears a school uniform consisting of a purple plaid skirt and matching sleeveless top, over a long-sleeved white blouse and a black bolo tie with a clasp shaped like a "Quimbaya airplane". Along with this, she wears white socks with bows and black shoes.
"Well, well, if it isn't Usamimi Sumirenko-chan! You've grown up! It's been years, little lady!"
"It's Usami Sumireko, damn it! Why can't you remember my name properly after all these years, Kuzunoha-san?! I always visited Ryuuji back then, you know! You should at least had remembered it by now." The girl named Sumireko retorts with a half-shout. Having someone whom you have known since childhood can't recall your name up until after a set of years can be quite infuriating. However, leaving your childhood best friend to his scarily competent Miko girlfriend and find out he still got spirited away anyway is a thrice as infuriating.
However, not wanting to waste time in a friendly bickering, Genjou clears his throat audibly, getting Sumireko's attention. The oddly dressed girl quickly focused her attention.
Seeing that, Genjou begins to speak.
"So, what is this way to get inside Gensokyo are you talking about, Sumirenko-chan?"
"It's not Sumirenko…It's Sumireko!"
Chapter Ends…
Hello there, dear readers! It has been a while. Sorry about that, as my real life schedule is rather…brutal now. That, and I'm currently en route to finishing Witcher 3.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you're really, really satisfied, please leave a review for this chapter, for it really helps! Constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms.
